‘S How James Dyson transforms everyday objects: the vacuum cleaner, the hand dryer, and now the desk fan-into objects of wonder. ‘The Air Multiplier rose out of an error in the testing lab to become the world’s first bladoles fan took some 250 iterations ay ot release. The white ina TOvnch inch size silverIsablowy autumn morning in ‘Manhattan, and James Dyson, the 62- year-old British entrepreneur, is in town to sell the world something it never knew it needed. Dyson, you'll recall, isthe ‘man who reinvented the vacuum elesner, ‘the hand dryer, and, by ll accounts, the art of reinventing quotidian products itself He is both an engineering wonk ‘and abrilliant marketer in an age that has elevated conspiouous consumption from pastime to profession. His personal fortune is worth an estimated $1 billion. He isthe Tory Party's freshly minted technology czar. When he travels, itis ina halo of his own improbable celebrity, the aura ofaman who has tapped into some basic human yen for things. And ‘what he would nowike to present to ‘the public,a month into fallin 40-degree ‘weather, as the leaves drop like cheap fe ‘ouwenis ofhotter day ia fan, beat issn jt any fan, ea aden paranne fan. A fan that upends how we've under- stood fans for more than 125 years. A fan ‘that promises to eradicate “buifeting,” ‘whatever that is, and maybe even save lives. A fan that costs $300. “No one's thought ofa different way of doing it," says Dyson, sinking into = couch at his suite in the Mandarin Oriental the morning after the Air Mul- _Welike to imagine that our cleverest tiplier’s launch, He'sin socks, fresh contraptions are the results of divine from the Today Show, on whicha school- inspiration—the genius inventor's eureka girlish Matt Lauer declared the fan ‘moment. The Air Multiplier had none. “revolutionary.” The roomislittered with Itbogan as afuke inthe testing lab and fans."People aceept the same old way of emerged three years, 250 iterations, doing it” Dyson continues.“Airplanes and about 30 employees later asa radical hhad propellers until 1942, until someone variation on a common household good. ound an alternative, which has proven ‘Thisis largely a testament to creative tobe much better’ engineering, however oxymoronic the Metrpotis12.2009_ 49notion, Dyson found inspiration in every- thing from an airplane wing tothe aura ofthe human body. And the engineering became the marketing. As the fan's tagline says, "No blades, no buffeting.” For Dyson, tevanslagical discovery isa triumph against the odds, a pursuit he likens to long-distance running, his high school sport of choice. Wo're all familiar with the tale of his bagless vacuum cleaner, which came together after 15 years and 5,126 prototypes. Within two years ofits launch, it was the best-selling vacuum closner inthe U.K. and has gone on to sell move than ‘imillian units worldwide, Today the Dyson company has arownd 2.400 em- ployees. Its headquarters in the U.K. is ‘a research-and-development machine. Dysonhhas quadrupled spending on R &D during the past five years, which means, ‘that ts produets, whether vacuum clean- ers ot fans, are meticulously researched, prototyped ad infinitum, and ested until they break. "Dyson starts out with the principle that they're going to make ‘significantly better product than what's ‘on the market today,” says Clive Rox, 4 16° His is not just any fan. It’s 0 bladeless fan. A fan that upends how we've understood fans for more than 125 years. “The Air Multiplier (assembly drawing, above) is made in Malaysia and subjected ‘to ahost of abuses~tapping, punching, ‘throwing —to ensure it will neta fetime ‘The an oscillates and tilts (right) executive director of the Industrial De- signers Society of America. “They achieve ‘that through invention, innovation, and design” The company has toiled its woy into the hearts of consumers, earning «sterling reputation for immaculately engineered (if pricey) goods. (Though it suffered something ofa PRblow six years ago, when it exported Its manufacturing to Malaysia.) cantinedon page 75 HOW IT WORKS 1. Acustom impeller draws ai nto the base. 2. The aris expelled through 2 1.3-milimeter inthe ring. 3. The al accelerates over ‘ramp shaped like an airplane wing. 4, The T6-degrae ramp draws in vast amounts of surrounding ar. 5, The stream picks up more volume ast travels forward 6. Inthe end, 1S times #8 much aie asthe fon expels hite yourskin. Diogiam by Natasha Reiger Bacchus Metron NN